Celco Heating and Air Conditioning Blog : Archive for January, 2014

Running a boiler or a furnace from a supply of oil was a popular choice for home heating for many years. Today, using oil has subsided considerably as more people use natural gas to fuel their heaters, and for many good reasons, as we’ll consider here.

If you are still using an oil furnace or boiler for your heating in Stamford, CT, we strongly urge you to consider a conversion over to natural gas. This can be an involved and difficult process, but with the assistance of Celco Heating and Air Conditioning it will go much smoother for you. We specialize in helping homeowners make the switch to natural gas, so please call us when you’re ready to take advantage of the many benefits of an oil-to-gas conversion.

Why you should convert from oil to natural gas:

Natural gas is much less expensive: Natural gas burns more fully than oil, so it is a much more efficient type of heater. The U.S. Department of Energy did a study to find out how much less natural gas cost as a heating fuel than oil. The results showed that an average family using oil paid approximately $2500 per year on heating, while a family using natural gas paid approximately $800. Over the lifetime of a heater, this will add up to tremendous savings.

Natural gas is more convenient: A pipeline brings natural gas straight into your home. But oil requires a ready supply that you have to have delivered to you. If you forget to schedule delivery, you might be stuck without any heating at all.

Natural gas is better for the environment: Because natural gas burns more completely than oil, it creates fewer emissions and has a much smaller impact on the environment.

Natural gas is domestically produced: If you are concerned about U.S. dependence on foreign oil, a conversion to natural gas is a good way to foster energy independence, since it is produced domestically.

Schedule oil-to-gas natural conversion today

Celco Heating and Air Conditioning can help you make the transition from oil to natural gas and guide you through all the necessary steps to bring you the benefits of this improved heating source. Call us today and talk to one of our oil-to-gas conversion specialists to see how we can help you; our offered heating services in Stamford will help ensure you’ll have many more comfortable and affordable tomorrows.

Today, we tend to think of fireplaces as cosmetic parts of our home: they turn living rooms into more attractive places to gather, and they add an ambiance of the holidays to any time of the year.

But fireplaces can also serve as adjuncts to your heating system, providing warmth to rooms to assist a furnace, boiler, or heat pump. If you are looking for fireplace installation that goes beyond a pleasant-appearing home addition to provide you with additional heating as well, talk to our Stamford, CT fireplace experts at Celco Heating and Air Conditioning. We have more than three and half decades of experience with fireplace installation.

What type of fireplace delivers more heat?

Fireplaces come in a greater diversity of types than they once did. The traditional wood fireplace now has competition from the gas fireplace. Gas fireplaces have some major advantages over the standard wood kind (chief among them: no need to keep getting more wood and tending to the fire), but the important issue here is if gas fireplace emit superior heat.

Let’s turn to the U.S. EPA on this issue. A difficult part of answering the question is how variable and unpredictable the heat from a wood fireplace is. The heat depends on the amount of wood put on, as well as the type of wood. You can more easily predict what a gas fireplace will produce, since it’s only the flick or a switch or the turn of a handle to bring on the flames.

The EPA, however, does not recommend an older wood-burning fireplace as a primary source of heat. “Draft from a fireplace tends to suck all the warm air in a home and take it up the chimney. If you use a fireplace, expect other rooms in the home to be cooler due to escaping warm air. And, if you’re using central heating while burning in a fireplace, expect your heater to work harder to maintain temperatures around the house.” The EPA then emphasizes that this does not apply to gas fireplaces, which require less venting and burn more efficiently.

So the question is not so much which one emits more heat; it’s which one prevents the loss of more heat. In this regard, the gas fireplace clearly comes out on top. However, we cannot deny the greater pleasure people get from the crackling sound and wonderful aromas of a wood fireplace. There are types of wood fireplaces that can help heat your home, such as high-efficiency fireplace inserts. If you don’t want to go with a gas model, be sure to ask your installer about these great options.

We can custom design a fireplace to fit your needs, so when you need a fireplace in Stamford, CT, call the specialists at Celco Heating and Air Conditioning.

Although an open flame inside a house seems like a great danger, modern fireplaces are really no more hazardous than any other heating system you might have installed in your home. Fireplaces are constructed with insulation that confines the spread of heat, and ventilation that keeps any exhaust away from your living spaces. You should only get cozy warmth from your hearth.

However, like any heating system, a fireplace will sometimes need repairs. One of the clearest signs of this is when smoke comes out of the hearth and into places where it does not belong. This means something is wrong with the ventilation that is supposed to remove the smoke and you will need professional chimney repair technicians to look into the problem. Call Celco Heating and Air Conditioning for fast and effective fireplace repair and other heating services in Westport, CT.

Here Are Some Reasons Your Fireplace Smoke is Leaking Into Your Westport Home

Creosote build-up

The most common problem that wood-burning fireplaces face is creosote, the black shiny substance that starts to develop across the hearth and chimney. Creosote is residue from incomplete burning of wood, it is highly flammable. If creosote grows too thickly in your chimney, it will make it harder to properly vent the smoke from your fire. You need to have it professionally cleaned.

Cracking

The lining inside your chimney traps the smoke and heat so it goes nowhere except up and to the outside. If the bricks and mortar start to deteriorate (often because moisture seeping inside), cracks will develop that will permit smoke to start seeping out to places it shouldn’t. Eventually, fire could start escaping as well, so have the chimney repaired as soon as possible.

Broken damper

A damaged damper can become stuck in place. This will block off the flue and send smoke back through the fireplace. The damage can be warping, corrosion, or mechanical failure like a broken counter weight. If you’re unsure about how to fix the damper, call in professionals: you don’t want to take chances. Make certain that your fireplace is a source of joy and warmth for you this season, and not a source of concern.

When smoke starts to enter your home from your fireplace, take action and call for fireplace repair in Westport, CT.

Celco Heating and Air Conditioning has worked on fireplaces since 1976; let us put that experience to work for you.

If you have been watching or listening to the news over the last few weeks, you may have heard about the tremendous cold weather and ice storms that hit Michigan and Maine. In both places, hundreds of homes and families lost power for as much as five days—and right during the holidays. Crews worked feverishly to restore the power, but many people found themselves spending the most joyous part of the year huddled in blankets around fireplaces or needing to temporarily relocate. Some homeowners made use of portable generators, but found them insufficient for the needs of their home and only able to work for a limited time.

This is why a whole-house backup generator is something we advise our customers to consider. Celco Heating and Air Conditioning can supply you with installation and repairs for a backup generator in Westport, CT that will protect you and your family from the kind of emergencies that recently struck Michigan and Maine.

Why you should have a whole-house backup generator installed

Comfort: Most heating systems will not work with a loss of power; even most natural gas heaters today require an electric ignition. Since huge power outages most often occur during extremely cold weather, a generator will keep you warm when you most need it.

Safety of people with medical needs: If you have someone in your home who depends on an electrically-powered device for a medical condition, such as an oxygen breather, than a back-up generator is an absolute life-saver. You should call about having a generator installed immediately if you need electricity for medical reasons.

Portable generators will not do the job: A portable generator that runs on gasoline is fine for camping or to keep in the car or truck in case of an emergency. However, they are not designed to power a home and will not last long. Any power outage that lasts more than a few hours is beyond the capacity of a portable unit.

Peace of mind: This is an intangible benefit, but an important one. Even if you don’t have to face a significant power outage, you’ll have the relief of knowing that you are prepared for one.

Schedule whole-house generator installation today

The winter is still here, and will hang around for at least two more months. The seasons may still have a few nasty surprises left for us, so now is the time to have installation of a backup generator in Westport, CT. Celco Heating and Air Conditioning has over 35 years of experience providing satisfaction to our customers, so make us your choice for generator installation.